


In the Margins

by WildandWhirling



Category: Terra Nova (TV)
Genre: Dark Taylor, Developing Relationship, F/F, Fluff and Angst, In-Universe Media and Online - Documentary Transcript, Pre-Relationship, Spiders, nature documentary
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-06
Updated: 2019-10-06
Packaged: 2020-11-26 09:41:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20928128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WildandWhirling/pseuds/WildandWhirling
Summary: A glimpse at life on the early colony, through the Eye's video archives.





	In the Margins

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Artemis1000](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Artemis1000/gifts).

_ ...While life in the colony was harsh and often unforgiving, among the youth of Terra Nova, a certain levity tended to prevail. Click on the video link below to see one of the extant recordings from the colony’s early days. This video is a rare find, both for the high level of quality and for a glimpse at the early days of two of the colony’s most distinguished members, Maddy Shannon and Skye Tate. _

_ *Link selected* _

***A video opens, showing two teenage girls surrounded by a verdant forest. One of them, Skye Tate, future commander of the colony, sits on a log, one of her legs crossed over the other, hand propped up on the same leg. She looks at the audience with an expression of mock authority, though her eyes are soft, in comparison to the steely glint they will gain in the coming years. The other, Maddy Shannon, stands by, hands twitching with a kind of nervous energy as she looks up through the dense canopy of trees* **

  
**Maddy**: Are you sure we should be out here? I thought that Taylor said no more OTG trips while we’re still doing damage assessment on the last Sixer attack. My dad says there might be a few stray Sixers still out here. 

**Skye**: Giving up on me now, Shannon? I didn’t think that it was in the Shannon DNA to back away from a challenge.

**Maddy** : A _ couple _ of slasher attacks might have put it in there. A single talon on one of them can cut through. Bone. 

***Skye softens***

**Skye**: If you want to go back, we’ll go back. 

***Maddy shakes her head, even as she bites her lip, eyes scanning along the forest floor. Her ongoing anxiety towards dinosaurs is well-recorded in the existing records from the early colony. See: Psychiatric Profile - Maddy Shannon for further information.***

**Maddy**: I’ll be fine once we get going. It’s just...bone. Want to start now? 

**Skye**: And beginning with our documentary, we have…

***She turns around, spreading her arms out wide***   
  
**Skye**: A bunch of trees. Which are very green. And tree-like. 

***Maddy Shannon tucks a bit of hair behind her ear***

**Skye**: Ah, my distinguished colleague has an observation to make. 

**Maddy**: Actually, those are _Elegia_ _capensis_. Uh, that would be Horsetail Restio. 

***Skye looks at her, a touch of affection on her face as she anticipates what’s to come, and her voice reverts back to something closer to her natural tone and accent as she props herself up by one arm on the log.* ** **  
**   
**Skye**: So, Dr. Shannon, what makes you say that? 

**Maddy**: Well, the thin, needle like leaves, which fall down over the top of the branch like a horse’s tail. See? 

***She reaches up and tries to grab at one for a few seconds, her somewhat short height making it difficult* **   
  
**Skye** : Need help?   
  
**Maddy**: I’ve got this, I’ve got this.

***Finally, she gets in one good jump in, brandishing her prize* **   
  
**Maddy**: Aha! 

***She walks over to Skye and brushes the plant lightly across the top of her head. The confident facial expression disappears as Skye jolts up***   
  
**Skye**: Hey! 

**Maddy**: Your idea to come out here. 

**Skye**: And it took you...what? Ten seconds to say ‘yes.’ 

**Maddy**: Ten and a half, I counted. 

**Skye** : Because, as we know, that last half a second was _ very _ important. 

**Maddy** : Hey, if it was Josh, it would have been...one second, and then another nine before he walked into a Slasher attack. ** *Then, under her breath*** I hope he’s not going to hear me say that. I need him to help me run some tests later this week. 

**Skye**: My lips are sealed. Though, you know, if you ever needed someone else to help you run tests, I don’t have anything for the next couple of weeks and it might help me understand some of this sciencey...stuff. 

**Maddy**: I really, really can’t ask you to do that. You’ve already agreed to chess tutoring on Monday, study group on Tuesday, dinner with my family on Wednesday after you’re done with my mom in the lab, helping Zöe with her arts and crafts project on Thursday - My dad thanks you for that one, by the way. After last time, I don’t think Mrs. Borschetta trusts him anywhere near a papier-mâché paste. 

**Skye**: No problem. 

**Maddy**: It’s not to say I don’t like it. I do. Like it, that is. But I know you have to have your own life. There...has to be more than just...nerdy Maddy Shannon and her family, you know? 

**Skye**: Um, let’s keep going? Otherwise it’ll be dark and I don’t know about you, but I really don’t want to have any Slashers on our video. And here we have…

***Skye hurries behind the camera. Maddy visibly tries to hold back from laughing as the camera zooms in on a large log* **

**Skye (from behind the camera)** : And here we have...a log. Which looks like it’s had a really rough few days. Dr. Shannon, your analysis?   
  
**Maddy**: This? Uh, it’s an oak tree. Or, at least. It was an oak tree. it’s probably been here for about a month, due to the state of decay. They actually really started evolving during the Cretaceous period, so this is really a young version of an oak. Not that I ever saw one in the future, but...in books. Anyway, this is actually really fascinating because, for a huge variety of Cretaceous era animals, this provides a place for shelter. You can have an entire ecosystem living in a space that we would normally consider confined.

***Maddy bends down***

**Skye**: So, you’re saying they’re not barking up the wrong tree? 

***Maddy pauses from what she’s doing in order to glare. In response, the camera slightly moves up before returning to its original position.***

**Skye: **Couldn’t help it, sorry. 

***At the sight of a spider, Maddy freezes before gulping* **

**Maddy** : This is a, um, Chimerarachne yingi spider. Completely harmless. At least, to us. Not really to...any of the insects it might come across. The long tail is believed by scientists to be used as an antenna, to make it easier to...clamp down on its prey. ** *She clears her throat*** They have...venom glands, which they use to….immobilize any prey that might...get stuck outside their burrows, which they tend to line with silk. 

***She starts singing something quietly, pitch wavering. Despite the best attempts of historians and archivists, no known record of this song exists, though the words have been roughly transcribed as “Go away spiders, go, go, go, go”. Further research is required, however, and it is very likely that this identification might change.***

And...could we please go somewhere else? I don’t really like being near. Spiders. These days.

***For more information, see: Security File: Andrew Fickett***

**Skye**: Of course. 

***She picks up the camera, so Maddy is the only one visible, fallen branches and leaves snapping under their feet* **

**Skye**: Hey, you know I wouldn’t let anything happen to you out here, right? 

**Maddy**: I know. 

**Skye**: I mean, think of what your dad would say. I’ve already gotten the shovel talk. 

**Maddy**: He didn’t-

**Skye** ***In a deeper voice***: “Now Skye, you seem like a nice girl, but if you pull one more- 

**Maddy** : Dad, _ no _. I’m so sorry. He can just be a little overprotective. I think it’s because he spent so long without us that he worries about it happening again. 

**Skye**: I understand. 

**Maddy**: One day, we were having a happy night together as a family, and the next...Dad’s in prison, and Mom’s crying, and Josh is...Josh isn’t the same, and Zöe’s too young to really understand everything. And then...there’s me. Maddy. And my school. I think it helped, being a bookworm. You don’t have to worry about things when you’re ten chapters in a biology textbook. It’s easier. And...oh my God I’m sorry, you probably didn’t want to hear that. I normally don’t like to talk too much about it. 

**Skye** : Hey, it’s what I’m here for. Wait a second- ***She bends down to tie her shoelaces, talking the entire time*** I actually envy you, a little bit. I don’t know how my dad would feel about...anything. But, maybe it makes it easier. ***She finishes tying her shoes, looking into the forest for a moment*** I can’t disappoint him that way. That’s one person, at least. 

***Maddy smiles brightly***

**Maddy**: Hey, at least you have me. 

***Skye forces a smile on her face***: Yeah, I do.

**Maddy**: Maddy Shannon, the life of the party, everyone. 

**Skye** : Hey, you’re here, right? Braving the unknown? I think that makes you...pretty brave. You might have a _ little _ more of that Shannon DNA than you think. 

**Maddy** : You say that now. Wait until you see me freeze at anything less than 35 degrees. *She faintly laughs* I think my body’s still used to 2149, even though it’s been a year. Like it’s expecting that I’ll go to sleep and wake up and the sky will be covered with three types of air pollution and I’ll be covered with sweat because I tried to use a blanket and forgot to wake up early enough to take it off and Josh always takes up all the hot water so- ***She shuffles* **You...probably didn’t...need to know. That. I’m fine now, though. Not cold at all. I can do this. 

***Skye pulls off her flannel jacket and hands it to her***: Just in case. 

***The two of them hold each other’s gaze, Maddy’s hand brushing against Skye’s as she takes the jacket* **   
  
**Maddy**: Thanks. 

***The video cuts here. Despite the best attempts of archivists, the contents of this part are unknown, with only the occasional piece of distorted audio. Given the intact nature of the rest of the video, this sudden shift is generally believed by scholars to be intentional, though who was responsible or why is still a matter of debate. Some recent works that have dealt with the subject have included T.J Reilly’s “Terra Nova: Colony Under Siege,” Eleanor Washington’s “The Dark Side of the Sun: The Taylor Regime and the Rise of Terra Nova” and Jim Franklin’s “Shadow King: Tom Boylan and Terra Nova’s Underground in the Mid-23rd Century,” all of which have come to separate conclusions.* **

***When the video returns, the two of them are standing together again, the camera propped at an angle.* ** **  
** **  
** ***Maddy runs up to one of the trees* **

**Maddy**: Look at this! 

***Skye goes off camera. Shortly thereafter, the camera zooms in on a small dinosaur looking intently at a beetle, eyes wide and brown, though Maddy is still visible in the frame. Two small wings hang at its side, and from those, three claws jut out. A long, feathery tail hangs behind it. Skye walks back into the frame, crouching by Maddy.***

  
**Maddy**: It’s a baby coelurosaur. We normally don’t see them away from their parents. It looks like this little guy just left the nest. When they’re young, they go through an extended period where they stay with their parents, but they make increasingly long trips out of the nest, to help them build their hunting skills. 

**Skye: **Mom and dad finally let you out, huh? 

**Maddy**: Just don’t tell Zöe; she’ll try to make it a pet.

**Skye**: My lips are sealed.

***They watch as it hesitantly approaches the beetle, its beak-like mouth darting out to eat it in one gulp. However, Skye is more focused on Maddy, smiling at her as she becomes engrossed in watching it.***

**Maddy** : I don’t think I’ll ever really get used to this. Seeing them like this. In 2149, Mom would sometimes pull some strings to let me see the fossils up close but not like _ this _ . They’re so... _ alive _. 

***Pause* **

  
**Maddy**: That probably doesn’t make any sense, does it?

**Skye**: It does to me. 

***Maddy smiles, ducking her head. At the same time, the dinosaur sniffs the air, eyes widening before it scampers off.***

**Maddy**: That was...amazing. I know it probably seems normal to you because you’ve been here for so long, but...that was a real juvenile coelurosaur! And we got to see its feeding habits! I don’t think we’ve caught one of those on camera yet, though I’ll have to ask my mom and Malcolm. 

**Skye**: No, it was...it was cool. This was a lot of fun. *She puts her hand over her forehead, looking at the sky* It’s getting late, think we should call it a night? 

**Maddy**: I thought you were the one who had a sense of adventure? 

**Skye**: Normally? Yeah, but I know you want to avoid Slashers. 

**Maddy**: It’s probably a good idea. 

***The video falls backwards, getting a clear image of the sky for a second before a zipper is pulled across the bag, stitching the world in black. There’s a long period of rustling, accompanied by the sound of footsteps, muffled by some sort of barrier. Then, the clear sound of boots echoing against wood.* **   
  
**A Man’s Voice, muffled, but still distinct. The thick drawl has made it easy for researchers to pinpoint it as belonging to Commander Nathaniel Taylor:** So, how’d it go? 

***Skye’s voice is noticeably more strained than previously, edged with a hint of nervousness disguised as a type of coolness. An ongoing theme in her accounts, both during and after this time in her life, focus extensively on her increasing fear. See: Tate Video Log, Entry 244 for further information.* **

  
**Skye**: She didn’t suspect a thing. 

**Taylor**: Good girl, Skye. Now you follow that girl and you stick to her like a tick to a bulldog, you understand me? 

**Skye**: Why do you want me to keep an eye on Shannon, anyway? I thought that you and he were buddy-buddy these days. 

**Taylor**: I don’t think that’s particularly important for you to know. 

***Footsteps, heavier than the ones previously heard, go across the wooden floor again, slow and deliberate, becoming fainter as they get farther away from wherever the camera is. Then, a deep breath, obviously not from Skye.* **

**Taylor**: Look at all this, Skye. And just to think that a few weeks ago, someone tried to take it all away. 

**Skye**: I know- 

**Taylor:** People who had, at one point, pretended to be our friends. 

**Skye** : Yeah, but... _ Shannon _? 

**Taylor** : These _ people _, you never know when they’re going to strike. Hell, they even got you. 

**Skye**: I’m sorry. But they had my mom and I didn’t know what else to do and-

**Taylor**: It’s all in the past, now. What matters is that you figured things out in the end. And we’re all glad to have your mother back in the family. God knows we could use the fresh blood. 

***Long pause.* **

Maybe Shannon’s a legitimately solid man, maybe he isn’t. But I’m not going to wait around for another bomb to go off just to make sure. We get info on everyone in the colony, everyone who can so much as tell Mira what time of day it is, we cut them off at the pass. 

***Beat* **

**Taylor** : Skye...I need to know you’re with me on this one.   
  
**Skye**: Of course...sir. 

**Taylor:** Now that’s my girl. And, uh, Skye?   


**Skye**: Sir? 

**Taylor**: Maybe play it down a little. I mean, helping the family out as a trust exercise is fine, but papier-mâché? 

***Skye’s voice trembles.* **

**Skye**: I thought it might be a good idea. You know. With how kids talk. 

**Taylor**: I appreciate the initiative. But, uh, don’t make it too obvious. 

**Skye**: ...Of course. 

**Taylor:** You’re here to befriend the family, to get in good with them, not to become Maddy Shannon’s roommate. Shannon sniffs out bullshit like a slasher senses blood from two leagues away. The second he thinks something’s off, he pulls the trigger. 

**Skye**: Right, right. I...I know what I have to do. 

***More jostling sounds, and then the sound of boots going down wooden stairs again, slowly and off-pace, accompanied by heavy, shuddering breaths.***

**End Video**

_ *For more information on this pivotal year in the Colony’s history and the Civil War, see: Commander’s Log, Entry from November 19, 2149; Audio Records - Shannon Residence, December 25, 2149; Maddy Shannon’s Journal, Entry #2 from December 25; Tate Video Log, Entry 289; Audio Records - Boylan’s Bar, January 20, 2150; Patient Records of Dr. Malcolm Wallace - Commander...* _

***** _ Close _ *** **

**Author's Note:**

> So, the bit at the end is taken from two sources, neither of which ultimately made it into the series for various reasons. The first of these was a deleted scene from the Pilot where Taylor asks Skye about keeping an eye on Josh, the other was the scrapped plans for Season 2, where Taylor would have broken down after Lucas' betrayal, which would have culminated in Jim and Taylor duking it out for control of the colony. Maddy being in love with a Sixer mole's been in there since the 2009 script and would have continued in the series with Mark being revealed to be in league with the Sixers (in another deleted scene), but that was also cut. (I know, at this point, who ISN'T a Sixer spy?) So, the basic outline's always been THERE, I just...remixed it, slightly. 
> 
> All of the plants and animals referenced were around in the Cretaceous Period; I'm not sure whether they would be around in the exact time and place the series takes place in, but they were hanging around...somewhere around then. If nothing else, chalk it up to the fossil record being incomplete. 
> 
> I ended up looking at a lot of amber finds from Myanmar to see some of the more intact creatures, which included that long, feathery tale that the baby coelurosaur sports. I owe a HUGE debt to the various artists who reconstructed the lil guy off of the tail (especially the one who helpfully included the beetle); the work they do is phenomenal and it never ceases to amaze me what they can produce with comparatively little to go off of. (I don't know whether they did the whole "take long trips away from the nest" thing but I needed an excuse for them to see one off on its own + the whole parental...theme....thing, so I worked it in. The spider thing that they find is also a bit of a mystery, with scientists in the modern day really not knowing whether they HAVE venom glands, but I figured that Maddy would know, so I made an educated guess.)


End file.
